In the vehicle repair business, a damaged or in-need-of-repair vehicle is usually brought to a vehicle body shop or the like for corrective measures.
In some cases the vehicle can be driven under its own motive power or in some cases can be pushed or pulled to the repair station by some motive engine. If one or more of the vehicle's wheel/tire sets is damaged or removed during the repair process, motion from one position to another is difficult at best and usually requires some sort of lifting device, such as a lift truck, crane or derrick. Maneuverability becomes more complicated as the proximity of vehicles to each other or proximity of vehicles to buildings or repair racks becomes smaller, i.e. closer together. During the repair process, various vehicle parts must be moved to or from vehicles. In addition, some vehicle parts must be held in position during the repair process and in some cases, the parts must be manipulated or moved during the repair process, such as to align with mounting holes or with other parts.
Vehicle body parts, especially in modern vehicles, come in different shapes and sizes. Some vehicle parts are heavy or delicate. At times, the vehicle being worked on is positioned on another device, such as a repair rack or a vehicle lift. A vehicle repair shop operator may need several persons to move, manipulate and hold vehicle parts because of characteristics herein mentioned.
Various devices have been developed that address these and other problems.
______________________________________ Prior Art Devices PRIMARY DISCLOSED INVENTOR PAT. NO. TITLE USE ______________________________________ Arakaki 4,042,208 Automobile bump- Bumper/ er and door lifting Door and positioning assembly Coccaro 4,690,609 Apparatus for Wheel jacking and dolly- Dolly ing an affixed ve- hicle wheel assembly Marek 4,183,511 Work holder for Vehicle adjustable sup- doors porting a work piece Shern 4,810,151 Door transporting Door and mounting machine Harlow 3,964,729 Elevating device for snowmobiles Branick 2,669,422 Bumper jack Bumper Jack Andrist, etal 3,892,385 Automobile tool Vehicle Door Browder, etal 2,908,403 Device for re- Vehicle moving and in- Door stalling auto- mobile door Wells 3,220,565 Bumper hoisting Bumper fixture attachment Jack Waldown 3,858,864 Vehicle door sup- Vehicle porting apparatus Door Mathers 4,029,308 Device parti- Vehicle cularily suited for Hood use in handling hoods of motor- ized vehicles Bork 4,530,492 Apparatus for Vehicle supporting vehicle Parts body parts Cushenbery 4,180,252 Vehicle door and Vehicle bumper lift Bumper/ Door Ballard 5,076,448 Portable hydraulic Crane crane Eck 4,555,089 Wheel lift device Wheel Lift Christiansen 3,765,667 Engine stand Engine Stand Butorac 3,807,694 Vehicle service Vehicle jack Jack Eck, Liegel 4,886,242 Pneumatic hy- Vehicle etal draulic side lifting Lift jack Fjellstrom 4,932,639 Door and body Vehicle jack Door & ______________________________________
The applicant's assignee and such assignee's successor is the owner of several patents for such devices like U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,765,667, 3,807,694, 4,555,089, 4,886,242 and 5,076,448. The '089 device describes a wheel lift device for raising and supporting a wheeled vehicle but can only be used by approaching the vehicle's wheel along its path of roll, i.e. from a front or rear end of the vehicle. That device is limited to use with the tire on the vehicle's wheel and cannot be used as a vehicle support during a frame straightening operation. The '448 device is a portable hydraulic crane used for various lifting operations in a vehicle maintenance and repair application.
The '667 device is an engine stand used for holding an engine at a comfortable height during a repair procedure. Such engine stand usually is on a wheeled stand for movement to and from the vehicle. The '694 device is a vehicle service jack used for lifting, within rated load capacity, various portions of a vehicle or similar items. The '242 device is a pneumatic hydraulic side lifting jack that is used to lift a side of a vehicle at locations specified by the vehicle manufacturer.
A body shop owner/operator usually would have to own a multitude of such devices described above in order to perform maintenance and repair work on a vehicle. In addition, such body shop owner/operator would need bottle jacks, transmission jacks, vehicle stands and various other apparatus to perform his work on vehicles. None of these devices can be used or easily adapted to perform tasks for which they were not originally designed. As vehicles, particularily automobiles, evolve and new materials are used on such vehicles, devices have to be developed to handle and move more such items. Recent automobiles for instance have lower silhouettes with plastic and aluminum parts which restrict the operation and ability to use the current lifting device without structual damage to the automobile and its components. A body shop owner/operator may not be able to hire an additional person to assist in performing such operations or alternatively may have to hire an additional person in order to be able to obtain such repair work in the first instance. To avoid having to hire a person, a body shop owner/operator may buy a specialized device designed to perform a specific operation as described above. Ownership of each device constitutes, in total, a substantial investment in money. Such devices require substantial floor space either while in use or while being stored. Also, if one of the devices is being used on one vehicle, it cannot be used on another vehicle.